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OWC Ram?
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: NYC
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I'm planning on getting 2 gigs of RAM for my MacBook from macsales.net. Is this website safe? Has anyone got a bad experience buying there? Also, are their RAM sticks good?
Thanks in advanced,
Hg+
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Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Polwaristan
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Never any problems ordering from OWC/macsales. Their products have always been fine.
Check out newegg though to compare RAM prices to make sure you're getting the best deal.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
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You can get Crucial RAM for almost as cheap, or even cheaper if you get it via Newegg. That's what I'd do instead.
edit: it's actually cheaper via Crucial for your machine, even if you go via the regular Crucial website instead of through Newegg. $21.99 for a 2 GB module or $23.99 for two 1 GB modules at crucial.com, vs. $24.99 for a 2 GB module or $27.99 for two 1 GB modules via OWC. And the Crucial's probably even cheaper if you get it via Newegg (although it requires a little more care to make sure you get exactly the right module). Given this, there's absolutely no reason not to get the name brand.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: NYC
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I looked for the Crucial RAM on Newegg, but couldn't find it. Would you mind posting the direct link? I have a 2.1Ghz MacBook.
Thank you again,
Hg+
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Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2001
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2001
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There is no good reason to buy RAM from OWC.
They charge a premium for memory that can be bought elsewhere for a better price and is of equal if not better quality. I like Crucial RAM and I tend to have had less problems with it than any other brand over the years. You can buy direct from them or shop from one of their authorized dealers. The cost should be right around what OWC charges. If you want to look for less expensive RAM but that is still a good quality I would look at Kingston.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
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Crucial and Kingston are both good brands, but I usually find Kingston to cost more than Crucial. In the OP's case, Crucial is cheap enough that it actually manages to cost less than the generic OWC RAM, so that's definitely what I'd go for here.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
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running 4gigs in my iMac now.
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45/47
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Los Angeles
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I recently bought 4 gb (2x2gb) of ram for my MBP for $40 at Frys ($19.99 each). It was branded as Crucial. In the month or so that I have had it, it has worked flawlessly.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: NYC
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Thanks for all the reply guys.
Would this one be compatible with my MacBook? I want to get something that works.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Los Angeles
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Originally Posted by Hg2491
Thanks for all the reply guys.
Would this one be compatible with my MacBook? I want to get something that works.
Go to www.crucial.com and use their memory advisor tool. You just plug in your computer's info and it will tell you all that you need to know about its memory.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
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I would recommend buying RAM from newegg. I just upgraded from the stock 2GB to Kingston 4GB from Newegg. I paid $20.99 for each stick.
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MacBook Pro 15" Unibody | iPhone 16GB 3G
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
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Bargain hunting critical componentry IMO is bad policy for most purchasers. IMO RAM is a critical component often hard to troubleshoot if it gets flaky, and various RAM has widely different QA and QC applied to it, even some that comes from the same manufacturer.
Do all you folks who recommend buying only by price and whether or not it fits really think that every Asian manufacturer discards all the RAM that fails their highest levels of QA/QC? Where do you suppose those DIMMs that fail QA/QC but still work go to after they slip out the back (or even the front) door? It cannot all go into Microsoft Xboxes .
OWC is an excellent vendor from whom I have been buying for a long time (I have no relationship with them except as a buyer who manages nine Macs). They have excellent presales tech support that knows the complex mix of Mac products and parts and they provide excellent post-sale service. They do their homework in terms of optimizing products for individual Macs. And you can easily talk to a knowledgeable live person.
E.g. when bargain hunters were getting Mac Pro RAM from Newegg and others that lacked proper heat sinks OWC RAM came with righteous heat sinks. Lack of heat sinks means little in the short term but quite a lot in long term product life.
OWC's product support has amazed me. Twice I have purchased RAM that I later returned without using it because my plans changed; once many months later. In both cases OWC gave full credit for the return.
In short, I rate OWC 5x5 and consider going through any less-than-5x5 vendor just to save a few bucks long term cost-ineffective purchase policy (umm, crazy ). Note that OWC is not necessarily the only 5x5 vendor out there, just the one that I have had the most excellent long-term experience with.
-Allen Wicks
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Last edited by SierraDragon; Jan 28, 2009 at 11:01 AM.
)
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
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I agree with the sentiment about bargain-hunting for RAM, but I would consider name-brand RAM such as Crucial, Kingston, et al. to be more reputable than OWC when it comes to RAM, and in this case Crucial actually turns out to cost less, so...
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
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•
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa, how long can this be? Does it really ruin the left column spacing?
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Originally Posted by SierraDragon
Do all you folks who recommend buying only by price and whether or not it fits
I didn't see any posts suggesting this.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NorthEastern US
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I've purchased RAMs over the years from all the aforementioned sources as my whims dictated. I may have had a flaky stick once or twice. Certainly having a good sales support retailer to deal with is a big thumbs up. But all in all, I don't recall having any trouble after the initial burn in period, generic or otherwise. As for OWC, the last stick of RAM I bought from them, I believe, was from Hynix for my old Powerbook. Don't they all source these things from the same few Asian plants?
Anyway, a few bucks don't make much difference to me. I like to spread the love around to try and keep everyone in business. And to the OP, I have always had positive experiences dealing with OWC dating back to the Voodoo2 card for my 7600.
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Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
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I order RAM from OWC or Crucial, depending on who's cheaper. I've ordered from both many times over the years.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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Originally Posted by SierraDragon
Do all you folks who recommend buying only by price and whether or not it fits...
What? Why would anyone recommend RAM that doesn't fit? That's about as useful for making your computer faster as an elephant would be.
OWC has a nice little system selector, but so does Crucial, and you can always go to Apple and find out there, or look in your user's manual. Then go to NewEgg and see what's available, what's cheap, and what has lots of positive reviews. Other brands I often buy from are Corsair, OCZ, and Mushkin. They'll all do the job just fine.
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"That's Mama Luigi to you, Mario!" *wheeze*
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: New York City
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Originally Posted by SierraDragon
Bargain hunting critical componentry IMO is bad policy for most purchasers. IMO RAM is a critical component often hard to troubleshoot if it gets flaky, and various RAM has widely different QA and QC applied to it, even some that comes from the same manufacturer.
This is excellent advice. I just lost a few days productive work trying to sort out some system hard freezes, eventually figuring out that fault RAM is to blame. Mind you, the failing RAM ended up corrupting my boot drive -- nothing that couldn't be fixed, but still with considerable effort.
Ironically the bad RAM's from OWC. I am assuming I'll have no problems RMA'ing it.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CA
Status:
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I bought 6GB for my 2.53 from OWC, first as a single 4GB add on, then as a 6GB kit, OWC spent a lot of time trying to get it working. Swapping RAM, reviewing logs etc. In my case we could not get it to work in my 5,1 2.53 MBP and they refunded my purchase. I would definitely buy from them again! Seems to be some of the 5,1 machines just will not work with the hynix RAM at all. OWC felt they might have another solution in the future but not now for some, not all, 5,1 MBP.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status:
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OWC has always stood behind their ram for me.
Over the years we've had a few ram sticks we had to return.
No problems and no hassles with the exchanges.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Galaxy far, far away
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Originally Posted by VicF
I bought 6GB for my 2.53 from OWC, first as a single 4GB add on, then as a 6GB kit, OWC spent a lot of time trying to get it working. Swapping RAM, reviewing logs etc. In my case we could not get it to work in my 5,1 2.53 MBP and they refunded my purchase. I would definitely buy from them again! Seems to be some of the 5,1 machines just will not work with the hynix RAM at all. OWC felt they might have another solution in the future but not now for some, not all, 5,1 MBP.
Mine is working perfectly so far and it's 6GB kit from OWC as well.
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